The software giant has received approval for its payments transfer service from one state in the US, a stepping stone to the company's wider ambition of providing the service throughout.

Business analyst, Faizal Khan, confirms in his blog that Microsoft has indeed obtained the rights to push out its payments service. Microsoft's upcoming Windows 10 has built-in support for 'tap to pay'.

Although Microsoft is tight-lipped about the service, but observes that it will give it a flexibility to provide new, innovative cloud services to its customers.

At the time of Apple Pay service launch, Bill Gates had envisioned the idea that one day such a service will be provided by all the smartphones.

Apple Pay allows certain Apple mobile devices make payments at retail or online checkout by replacing the the credit or debit magnetic stripe cards at the time of transaction. It works in direct contact with the banks.